Ally Pally disappointment for Unicorn duo

Thursday, 21 December 2017 23:20:25 Europe/London

Double disappointment as Petersen lost 2-3 to Darren Webster, while Huybrechts went down 0-3 to James Richardson.

Devon came back from two sets down but couldn't finish the job. Kim's nightmare year had the nightmare end. He won only two legs in his match.

The South African gave it everything after losing those first two sets. Also Webster won set two with a 160 finish.

But he hit back superbly. Petersen eventually took the third set on D8 after Webster missed darts at 'tops' for a straight sets win. He nearly blew it after throwing a dart out of the board when looking at D16.

There were no such problems as he raced through the fourth set without reply.

So we went to the decider. Webster took the opening leg on throw but then crucially Petersen missed two darts at D8 and his chance was gone. A great effort but falling just short.

The Belgian must forget about this year and this performance as soon as possible. He looked flat from the off. Richardson could scarcely believe his luck. He punished the Unicorn man and how.

Huybrechts won only two legs and one of those was after his opponent had missed five darts at doubles. He averaged only 86. Unfortunately it was a performance that summed up his year.

We all know what a good player he is. Surely he will turn it all around in 2018.

Meanwhile No.2 seed Peter Wright was made to work by Diogo Portela, who became the first Brazilian to play at the World Championship. Wright won by three sets to one.